“There is a big problem with gender inequality all over the world, and we know the marketing messages our industry puts out can have an effect on that,” Senta Slingerland, Cannes Lions Festival’s director of brand strategy. “We decided to celebrate work that tries to shatter the existing stereotypes in marketing messages and have a real impact on culture.”

Cannes Lions will donate proceeds from the Glass Lion entry fees toward a program that promotes a gender-neutral media landscape, Ms. Slingerland said. In the future, the festival may open up the category to include work that addresses other issues of representation in advertising, she said.

The award was created in partnership with LeanIn.org, whose founder Sheryl Sandberg approached Cannes Lions organizers with the idea for the award after participating in the festival’s “See It Be It” program as a speaker. The “See It Be It” initiative was launched last year to accelerate the careers of up-and-coming female creatives. The program selects 12 women below the title of creative director to attend the Cannes Lions festival and meet with senior executives in the industry.

The lack of women in top creative roles has long been a point of criticism for the advertising industry. Today there are still many campaigns that “perpetuate ridiculously tired, old gender stereotypes,” said Cindy Gallop, the Glass Lions’ jury president.

“Women within the industry and our clients are aware that we are the primary audience for all advertising,” said Ms. Gallop, who is the chief executive of IfWeRanTheWorld/MakeLoveNotPorn consultancy and a founder of BBH New York. “In a male-dominated industry there’s a tendency to believe that men are the norm for an audience for advertisers and that women are a subset. We are not a subset. We are the norm.”

Still, the Glass Lion should not be seen exclusively as a women’s award, Ms. Gallop said. The award aims to encourage the ad industry to create campaigns that are “much more reflective of the world around us,” and portray gender in a more realistic light, Ms. Gallop added.

“I would like to see the Glass Lion not need to exist in a few years’ time,” Ms. Gallop said. “I would like in a few years’ time for every Cannes-winning award to be doing what the Glass Lion is designed to celebrate.”